29 Sep 2006

Profile your interactions with your Mac.

Productivity is an application to profile your interactions with your computer. Use this utility to help you evaluate the productivity of your day, week, month or even year.

Modern operating systems include software which tracks CPU and memory for running applications, however this only presents a small snapshot of what your computer is doing. These tools do not provide any useful feedback about what you do during a typical work day... and that is where Productivity comes in.

Here are just a few of the questions you can answer by using this software:

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Productivity is an application to profile your interactions with your computer. Use this utility to help you evaluate the productivity of your day, week, month or even year.

Modern operating systems include software which tracks CPU and memory for running applications, however this only presents a small snapshot of what your computer is doing. These tools do not provide any useful feedback about what you do during a typical work day... and that is where Productivity comes in.

Here are just a few of the questions you can answer by using this software:

Which application did I use the most today?

How much time do I spend with email and Web browsing?

Did I use "Software A" or "Software B" more often this year?

What is the average CPU usage for each application?

What is the total time today I spent in "Office" applications?

Do I use the Mouse or the Keyboard more often?

How much time did I actually spend working today?

How does Productivity work?

Productivity works in the background by keeping track of certain user interactions. Every second, Productivity records the foreground application (the one you are using right now), how long you have been using it, and the average CPU usage. Then checks are performed on the user interaction, including how often you use the Mouse, Keyboard and other input devices. (Note: Productivity does not record particular key input, only that the keyboard has been used).

Productivity is only aware of actions you perform within the foreground application while the Productivity software is running. For example, Productivity is not aware of the time you spend: on the phone, discussing projects with co-workers or clients, reading a passage in a reference book, thinking about a problem, running errands or other important tasks that do not involve your computer. Obviously this does not mean that you are not being productive; it just means that you are not using the computer.

Productivity can not distinguish between the types or quality of tasks you do within a particular application. For example, you might be using your favorite Web browser for business related research or you might be using it to shop for the latest electronic gadget for your home entertainment center - Productivity only records that you were using the Web browser.

The important point to remember is that Productivity is only a tool to help you evaluate how productive you spent your day.

Features:

Sort user activity by application or by timeline.

Limit by various dates including daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.

Find averages for a typical work day or week.

Displays separate information for Mouse, Keyboard and Other Input Devices.

Displays average CPU usage for Application List and Timeline

Organize applications into categories

Filter results by Application name

Version 1.0.1:

Fixed an International Settings issue which prevented data from being saved in some locales.

Fixed an International Settings issue which incorrectly interpreted CPU usage.

Fixed an Application List sort issue after a refresh.

Prevented multiple writes in case more than one copy of application is running